Batman: Caped Crusader

Seeing that Batman's design is a throwback to his original design from the 40s, I have to imagine that this is going for a pulpy Detective Noir type of tone.

I hate to joke about it, but given Bruce Timm is likely at the helm, what's the over/under on Barbara Gordon being Batman's Girl Friday?

According to interviews I've read, Timm's putting Barbara and Bruce together is less because he likes the idea of them being together so much as it is the pairing that gets the strongest reaction from fans, both positive and negative (he said that even putting Batman with one of the Robins doesn't trigger folks as strongly—though I suspect if he actually did that he'd get some pretty strong reactions). People either really like it, or really hate it, and he wanted to do something that people would care about. He didn't care if they liked or hated it, he just wanted them to feel something about it. He went on to say he thought it fit the tone of The Killing Joke, as there's a lot of "wrongness" going on in that film. While he teased them being attracted to each other in the last season of Batman:TAS, he said it probably isn't something he'd do in a regular Batman series.

Comcast just recently moved CN out of my cable package, meaning I'll have to pay more if I want it. I didn't mind so much at the time, as there wasn't anything on CN I was particualarly watching. Now, CN is on tap to get a new Batman series, a new Superman series, and the Tiny Toon Adventures reboot. Figures .

Edited by Robbery on May 19th 2021 at 12:57:46 PM

We seem to have another staff member confirmed for this series: Daniel Pipski. (Credits here, though he's notably know for being Head of TV for Matt Reeves' production company.)

According to one of Daniel's friends, and if it wasn't clear already, it sounds like this series is poised to be a more direct Spiritual Successor to Batman: The Animated Series.

Ahh, Fredric Wertham's OTP.

Edited by lbssb on May 19th 2021 at 1:21:58 AM

So he's trolling us.

He's playing with expectations and manipulating his audience's emotions, which is part of what a filmmaker does. He did go on to say it wasn't something he'd do in other projects where the tone of the work was different.

What are the chances this is a 30s/40s period piece, I wonder? We have a very Kane-looking Batman and mentions of his early noir days.

Might just be an aesthetic choice. BTAS looked like a 30s period piece as well, with stuff like casual fedoras and black-and-white TV, but clearly still took place in modern times.

The gothic aesthetic is an important part of Batman.

Just because Bruce Timm likes to troll with people's expectation doesn't he should do it again.

It simply would make the characters unlikeable and turn off fans from even giving it a chance since really, Batgirl X Batman has become such problematic cliché from Timm that it's more of a groan now that could lead to a demand for someone else to take full control over the project.

Edited by Shadao on May 19th 2021 at 7:29:35 AM

Oh yawn, another Batman show.

And Bruce Timm has long lost his grace to me as a storyteller and creator.

Granted it does suck that even after all these years we still don't have a wonder woman animated show.

The recent Justice Society animated movie did originally start out as a Wonder Woman cartoon that was then reworked into said movie.

Edited by slimcoder on May 20th 2021 at 3:51:49 AM

@ Lionheart - That would be interesting. Reminds me of this idea I've had for a Spider-Man: Noir cartoon that was modeled after The Spirit.

Although Batman is less of an "underdog" character, you could probably do something similar with him.

Edited by Hodor2 on May 20th 2021 at 10:20:50 AM

x4 Actually, it's been 7 years since the last dedicated Batman show. That's a lot more time than elapses between Ben 10 reboots.

One would have thought we'd have seen a Wonder Woman show when her first movie came out, but no such luck. I sometimes wonder just how popular Wonder Woman actually is, overall. Her first movie did well (moreso in the US than overseas) and she's obviously recognizable, but she's never seemed to be on quite the same level as Superman and Batman. The whole "Trinity" bit at DC always felt kinda forced, possibly because Superman and Batman have such a long history with each other that suddenly inserting WW into that felt a bit artificial.

Edited by Robbery on May 20th 2021 at 10:34:05 AM

It's worth noting that breadth of exposure ultimately has more complicated reasons beyond popularity, especially when it comes to female characters. Historically, Wonder Woman has been exposed less because in part of the belief that female superheroes don't have staying power, so it doesn't surprise me that even after the success of her first movie they still didn't really push to give the character more of a multimedia presence.

Oh right, reminds me how the executives for the LOSH show wanted less female characters in it cause boys would apparently hate that. Is that an actual thing that EVER happened?

I think that's just more an assumption from executives. That's not to say there aren't people who are like "Eeewwww!!! That boy is playing with girl toys!!" or "I shouldn't play with girl toys! I'm a boy!" , but that tends to be greatly exaggerated by executives who are usually out of touch.

Edited by jessicadicicco610 on May 21st 2021 at 5:12:21 AM

The exact story is that top WB execs ran a focus testing session and from that, they concluded that they needed more focus on boys, hence why Saturn Girl was taken out for most of the season and why Alexis Luthor wasn't a major villain like originally planned. Also, for some reason, they benched Bouncing Boy, which is jarring considering they had just made him leader in the first season.

This also affected The Batman season five, which is why there was barely any Batgirl and why the Justice League members were all men.

It all stems from 80s toy sales. Marketing people noticed that toys of female characters sold worse than the male one (which wasn't true; there were less figures of female characters period, individual sales were the same) and the industry spent 40 years assuming that it was true.

I thought the idea that boys couldn't or wouldn't identify with a female character had been an exploded myth since at least Legend of Korra. I've heard interviews with any number of actresses from old 80's cartoons (things like Rainbow Brite, Jem, and My Little Pony,) and they always point out how often they hear from male fans who loved their shows as kids.

I have heard that female action figures tend to sell less well in toylines aimed at boys, buy I don't know if it's true or not.

Korra didn't have a toyline at all, so they just circumvented the problem completely.

I'd rather have a Static Shock reboot than another Batman series, but I do love me some Batman, no matter how overused he is, so...Idunno.

The art style for the Superman show intrigues me more.

In the case of Korra, I meant the idea that boys wouldn't or couldn't identify with a female lead in an adventure show, not whether or not they'd respond to toys based on said female character.

Sometimes, I wonder if they should find other means of revenue beyond toys. I mean, we have video games and mobile games on phones, and toys don't have as much dominance as it did in the past. Why must the animation department be dependent on toy companies that want Aang to wear a scary impractical armor?